Category Archives: Federal support for science

Washington Update on the first months of the Biden presidency and new Congress

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Karen Saxe

  We are now a few months into the Biden/Harris administration, and the 117th Congress. Here is a quick overview of some highlights for the math community. Legislation President Joe Biden signed a \$1.9 trillion pandemic response package into law … Continue reading →

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COVID & Racism, their effects on the university scientific enterprise and what Congress is doing (or not doing) about them

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Karen Saxe

  What a summer we have had. The killing of George Floyd and others has sparked renewed outrage over systemic racism in our country. Protests and demonstrations across the nation are calling for real change. The pandemic continues unabated at … Continue reading →

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NSF released Science & Engineering Indicators

Posted on February 19, 2020 by Karen Saxe

At the end of the summer, I wrote a piece about the history of the NSF. I wrote “Another cool thing the agency does is to collect reams of data and publish the Science & Engineering Indicators. These reports give interesting statistics … Continue reading →

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After a slow start, the Trump White House is ramping up its science policy activities

Posted on November 21, 2019 by Karen Saxe

President Trump waited a long time before nominating a Director for the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Indeed, OSTP lacked a director for over 700 days, the longest vacancy since the office was created in 1976. … Continue reading →

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What is Congress up to, vis-à-vis the NSF? Money and Demography

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Karen Saxe

  During the week of May 6, I attended two hearings in the House of Representatives, both of which had to do with the NSF. Congressional hearings are (usually) open to the public. Some are easy to get in to, … Continue reading →

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President Trump issues his FY 2020 budget, what does it look like for the mathematical sciences, and what happens next?

Posted on May 13, 2019 by Karen Saxe

  On March 11 President Trump released his proposal, titled “A Budget for a Better America,” outlining how the government should make investments for the FY2020. As in his first two, his third annual budget includes massive cuts for science. … Continue reading →

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We are not doing so well

Posted on April 25, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Editor’s note: This was updated on April 26. The original had a few errors. Thank you to Tom Barr at the AMS for help getting the correct numbers. Ok, so that title doesn’t tell you much. Two reports came out … Continue reading →

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Mathematical Sciences and the NSF Big Ideas

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Editor’s note: Guest columnist Juan Meza is the Division Director of the NSF’s Division of Mathematical Sciences. Immediately before joining the NSF, he served as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences at the University of California, Merced. In 2016, the National … Continue reading →

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Which Members of Congress have a say over the NSF?

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Another shutdown has been avoided. Science did well in the final deal, and this includes \$8.1 billion for the NSF for the fiscal year 2019 (FY2019); this is the first time the NSF has received appropriations over \$8 billion and … Continue reading →

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Call To Action: The Shutdown Hurt Science; Ask Congress To Avoid Another

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Karen Saxe

Take action today and tell your elected officials–especially if they are members of the Conference Committee–to demonstrate resolve and forge a final package before February 15. You can use this editable email (written by Research!America) to contact your Congressional delegation–make your voice heard! … Continue reading →

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